TCU Baseball: Oklahoma Thursday Preview

Oklahoma State championed early for TCU to enter the Big 12, they gave us Doug Meacham, and despite taking 2 or 3 games from the Frogs two months ago, the Cowboys may have secured TCU's chances at a National Seed with a crushing defeat over Dallas Baptist on Tuesday. That, in addition to the chaos in the SEC, has also contributed to TCU's National Bid security. So now today, Thursday, TCU Baseball is just one win away from a Big 12 title, and that coveted National Seed.

Thankfully, Oklahoma is playing mediocre baseball right now, and have just 3 wins in their past 8 games. However, led by one of Big 12's best hitters, (Kolbey Carpenter - who leads the Big 12 in hits (76) and BA (.366)) Oklahoma plays really good baseball at home, where they possess a 5-1 Conference Record and a 18-6 record overall. Carpenter is also a solid power hitter, and in addition to his superb .563 slugging percentage, he has 8 home runs. It does bode well for the Sooners that 7 of TCU's 9 losses have come on the road; and there's also another little incentive for Oklahoma: they're playing for a Big 12 title. In order for this to happen, they'll have to sweep TCU, one of the Nation's top teams, and a team that hasn't lost consecutive games all year.

One of the luxuries for TCU's squad is that there are three strong arguments for TCU's best pitcher this year: Preston Morrison, Riley Ferrell, and Alex Young. Because rain forced him to miss his start against Kansas on Sunday, lefty Alex Young will start tonight against the Sooners. Last year in the Big 12 tournament, TCU clinched a postseason title with Tyler Alexander on the bump as well. It's hard to argue this decision; Young's probably been the best of the weekenders as of late, and Morrison just works better when he's throwing in the day.

The Sooners will go with the sophomore righty, Jake Elliot (4-5) to kick off this key series. Elliot has his work cut out for him with TCU's 2015 lineup including, but limited to Connor Wanhanen (.364 BA), Cody Jones (.362 BA, 24 stolen bases, and 46 runs), and Evan Skoug (6 HRs).

The Frogs hope to close out their run to the Big 12 title tonight, to take the pressure off of the rest of the series, and possible allow Jim Schlossnagle to get creative with his lineups and let some of his key players get some rest - or let some of the bench guys get valuable playing time. Young will need a quality start; and TCU hopes to see their power streak from Tuesday carry over to the opening game of this penultimate series in Norman.